Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
coastal areas; fishing rights) are vulnerable. Women, in particular, appear to be
largely excluded from any decision-making processes associated with leasing of
land. Many entrepreneurs arguably take advantage of locals' limited knowledge of
the law and their lack of understanding of land market value. Leases are generally
granted for 75 years for a single, up-front cash payment and annual rents set far
below reasonable commercial rates. Leasing tends to concentrate benefits in the
hands of small numbers of senior men and cash payments are often quickly dissi-
pated on consumables with little sustainable impact on development. Poor lease
creation processes often also drive prolonged disputes between customary land
claimants. Lack of monitoring and enforcement of lease conditions leads to unre-
solved grievances between lessors and lessees over unrealized lease benefits (e.g.
unpaid annual rents; unfulfilled promises for tourism development or employment
of local communities) (Moses 2009 ; Kalotiti et al. 2009 ).
If leasing of this kind continues at its current pace, the integrity of the world
heritage property and its sustainable management and preservation will be seriously
undermined. With disrupted connections between communities and their ancestral
land, the knowledge of oral traditions, traditional conservation practices and rituals
(intangible heritage), will be significantly threatened. Moreover, as the current
situation demonstrates, present legal arrangements for preservation of CRMD are
insufficient and do not address the actual issues at hand.
Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development
Signatories of the WHC undertake to integrate the protection of heritage into com-
prehensive planning programs. While the Convention does not require heritage to
be part of a national development strategy, this seems to be the most appropriate
place for a state party to start planning for a comprehensive policy on heritage
protection (Fiji Department of National Heritage, Culture and Arts 2010 ). The link
between national development strategy and cultural heritage has also been high-
lighted at the international level, as when - in light of case studies which demon-
strated that “the cultural heritage of many developing nations will be sacrificed in
the attempt to achieve economic well-being” (Keatinge 1982 : 211) - the Durban
Accord (2003) was adopted in Durban, South Africa during the World Parks
Congress. In clear recognition of the interdependence of sustainable development
and conservation efforts, the Accord states that “…a fresh and innovative approach
[is needed] to protected areas and their role in broader conservation and develop-
ment agendas…. In this way, the synergy between conservation, the maintenance
of life support systems, and sustainable development is forged. … We see protected
areas as providers of benefits beyond boundaries - beyond their boundaries on a
map, beyond the boundaries of nation-states, across societies, genders and genera-
tions” (The World Conservation Union 2003 ).
In this regard, it must be noted that Vanuatu does not have a comprehensive
national development strategy within which CRMD protection and sites currently
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